Jennifer Ehle has been cast as the mother in the Fifty Shades of Grey movie.

The 43-year-old actress - best known for playing Elizabeth Bennett opposite Colin Firth's Mr. Darcy in the iconic 1995 BBC miniseries Pride and Prejudice - has signed on to play naïve heroine Anastasia Steele's mother, Carla, in the raunchy flick.

The supporting role in Sam Taylor-Johnson's big screen adaptation of E.L. James' bestselling erotic novel will see her portray a no-nonsense Southern woman who is married to her fourth husband, according to Deadline.com.

From Pride & Prejudice to Fifty Shades Of Grey: Jennifer Ehle has been cast as Anastasia Steele's mother in the upcoming movie, according to Deadline.com

Hit: E L James' books became hits worldwide

The Zero Dark Thirty actress will join
leading lady Dakota Johnson as Anastasia and Charlie Hunnam as brooding
billionaire Christian Grey, who has a secret penchant for
sadomasochistic practices and goes about seducing curious ingenue Ana.

Hunnam recently confessed he 'struggled' with the decision to play the bondage-loving businessman in the controversial film, but the decision became obvious when he did a read-through with little-known actress Johnson.

He enthused: 'As soon as we got in the room and started reading with Dakota, I knew that I definitely wanted to do it, because there was a tangible chemistry between us.

'It felt kind of exciting and fun and weird and compelling, and so that was it.'

The casting announcement came after world-famous romantic novel author Jackie Collins slammed the character of Anastasia, for being so submissive.

'I prefer women who kick ass and don’t get their ass kicked!' she explained.

The British paperback queen, who is
the sister of Dynasty star Joan Collins, went on to compare Anastasia
with her own fictional female heroine, mob daughter Lucky Santangelo,
who has been the star of seven of her books including Goddess of
Vengeance.

Lead roles: Charlie Hunnam and Dakota Johnson will play Christian Grey and Anastasia in the adaptation

'Lucky is the woman who inspires other women,' Jackie said.

'I wanted to write a really strong ­female character who was not just a sex symbol.'